28 VOLUME 13: CHAPTER 4

For several minutes, the members of Zenith stood there, slacked-jawed at the sight before them.

Until the light from the flare vanished, they continued staring at the ancient underground city.

Even Emyrson 'The Red Bear' Matias couldn't utter a word. He'd never expected to encounter something of this magnitude when they dove to the dungeon.

Who would have known that an ancient underground city, which seemed to be larger than Quraso, was sleeping underneath the Republic?

The towering spires.

The massive main road that could fit twenty carriages passing through side-by-side.

The ancient buildings partially covered by vines despite the lack of sunlight.

The massive wall enclosing the city, stretching all the way to the distance.

The sound of water gushing out of the waterfall.

The howling of wind.

The musty smell of air deep underground.

It was truly a surreal sight.

"B-Boss, am I dreaming?"

"What… what should we do, Boss?"

"Fucking hell… how is a city this big remained undiscovered until now?!"

It was only after the light flare fully died out that Emyrson snapped back to reality.

Their entire bodies engulfed by darkness once again, Emyrson said to his party members, "Activate the kalrane stones. We're going down this cliff. We're entering the city." He said to the ranger, "Karlo."

"Boss!"

"Check if there are monsters or traps below."

"Understood!"

The ranger cast several detection spells to make sure there were no monsters or traps waiting for them at the river. After confirming it was safe, the members of Zenith took out their luminous stones and quickly descended the cliff.

Since Aster had a weak body, he was carried down by Emyrson himself.

"Kyyaak! This is exciting! An ancient, underground city!"

"Be quiet, kid."

Aster noticed that Emyrson's eyes kept scanning their surroundings as they made their descent.

"What are you so wary of, Boss? Didn't the ranger confirm it's safe?"

"Tracking magic isn't perfect," said Emyrson. "That city is definitely from an ancient civilization. Who knows what kind of traps are waiting for us there."

After descending the cliff, their group crossed the massive river and finally reached the walls enclosing the city. The thick steel gates, which remained in perfect condition despite the years, were wide open.

The members of Zenith entered the city.

As their group traversed the main road, they couldn't help but drool by what they saw.

This section of the city seemed to be a marketplace, as they could see several shops here and there. Although most of the goods were ordinary items like pots, ornamental vases, plates, and cutleries, these were all items from the ancient era, and they should hold a certain degree of value when sold in the market. Collectors would go crazy just to get their hands on one of these items.

"Boss~"

"What?"

"Look, over there! Let's enter that one!"

The healer was pointing at a tall building with broken windows. Displayed inside were several strange-looking equipment, which seemed to be made of some kind of metal.

Following the suggestion of the healer, they entered the building and closely inspected the items displayed there.

"Fuck…"

"They're all made of gold!"

"And this one! It's coated in mithril!"

"Just how much do these cost?!"

Just the items in this building alone already made their dungeon dive worthwhile.

"Let's grab a few of them, Boss!"

Emyrson shook his head. "No, there's a limit to how much loot we can take back to the surface. Who knows, we might encounter more precious items on the way."

The members of Zenith reluctantly agreed to their leader's words. They also knew it – if a simple shop like this was displaying items coated in mithril, there would surely be more precious items deep inside the city.

Their greed made them want to take these items right away. Yet, at the same time, it wouldn't let them settle for less.

"Boss," said Aster. "You should take at least that one."

Emyrson's gaze moved to the item Aster was pointing at. It was a dust-covered book at the countertop.

He brushed off the dust with his fingers and started reading the title.

He tried to.

Unfortunately, the book was written in an ancient language.

"I'm quite good at deciphering things," said Aster, grinning, revealing his two large front teeth. "Give me time, I'll decipher it for you, Boss. We should take at least that book if we wish to learn more about this city."

Emyrson rubbed his red beard. "Very well. We'll take this one."

They would probably encounter more shops displaying artifacts, but they might not see another book in good condition like this one.

After leaving the building, the members of Zenith continued traversing the main road of the city. They entered buildings every now and then, inspecting the items and artifacts they saw along the way.

After more than half a day of walking, they finally reached the colossal temple at the center of the city. Its walls were plated with gold, and the statues at the entrance were cut from a massive gemstone.

Unlike the other buildings, this one looked untouched by the passage of time. Its surroundings were well-kept – no overgrown vines, no layers of dust covering the ground, and the gold coating the walls looked as though they'd been recently polished by someone.

The ranger of the party frowned.

"Someone is here," said Karlo. "Six? No, seven people."

Emyrson felt it too. He growled, "Stop hiding like rats. Show yourselves!"

The explorers placed their hands on their weapons, warily gazing in the direction of the temple's entrance. They heard several footsteps. Soon, seven people wearing hooded cloaks appeared before them.

One of the hooded figures spoke. "Go back. This isn't a place for outsiders like you."

Emyrson didn't expect a soft voice to come out of the hooded figure's mouth.

"A woman?"

Emyrson quickly scanned their surroundings. It seemed that aside from these nine, there were no other people in this place.

"Who are you?" said Emyrson. "Are you the residents of this ancient city?"

The hooded figure replied, "Our identity doesn't matter. And be at ease, for we have no intention of fighting you, lest we awaken the gods sleeping in this place."

"Gods?"

"Creatures who lorded over the spirits. They are slumbering in this place, outsider. Calling them gods is no exaggeration, for each of them is capable of destroying the nations above the surface."

The members of Zenith shuddered upon hearing this.

They realized that the reason why there were no traps on their way here was not because the hooded figures were unable to make them. They were simply afraid of making a commotion and awakening the creatures slumbering in this underground city.

They might even be aware of the entrance leading to this place, but they couldn't even collapse it to prevent intruders from entering.

"Feel free to take the items in the buildings you've passed by. We will not stop you," she said, "but please do not go back."

Another one of the hooded figures added, "In exchange for those items, forget about this place. Otherwise, too many lives will be lost if those gods awaken from their slumber."

"And if we refuse?" said Emyrson.

"Then, despite the risk it entails," said the hooded figure. "We'll have no choice but to erase you, explorers."

***

After some discussion, Zenith decided to heed the words of the hooded figures.

Instead of forcing their way to the massive, golden temple, they decided to take the artifacts from the shops they'd passed on their way here and go back to the Republic.

Emyrson's instinct had never failed him before. And currently, it was telling him that this was the right call.

He deemed that it wouldn't do them good to be too greedy. If the story of that woman was true, then it would definitely be better for them to leave this city alone.

Thankfully, the members of Zenith shared the same sentiments.

They filled their bags to the brim with artifacts from the abandoned buildings, exited the city through the cliff, and traversed the floor that had become the nest of arachnias.

It was a good haul.

The artifacts aside, they managed to garner mithril, gold, and even a small amount of adamantite.

The number of artifacts they'd gleaned from this dungeon dive was enough for all of them to retire and live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

On their way back, they even started dreaming of the things they would do once they got their share of the loot.

Karlo, the ranger, planned on buying a small manor at the countryside.

Raiga, the shieldbearer, planned on opening a smithy.

Ludwig, the healer, planned on staying as an explorer.

Myric, the mage, planned on going to the Empire and join its Towers of Mages.

Emyrson planned on proposing to the waitress at the Nasty Bucket. And using the money he'd gained from this dungeon dive, he planned on moving to the Principality with her, peacefully living the rest of their lives together.

They were wonderful dreams, but the moment they exited the second floor of the dungeon, they realized it was short-lived.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

The roar of Emyrson resounded throughout the tunnels.

Waiting for them at the first floor of the dungeon were the soldiers of the Republic, along with five Inspectors working directly for the Senate. Margaret, the woman Emyrson planned to propose to, was kneeling next to the Inspectors. Her face was swollen, lips bleeding, and she seemed to have been dragged through the ground, judging by her tattered clothes and the cuts and bruises on her skin.

When Emyrson met her gaze, he saw the fear within her eyes.

Seeing this made Emyrson's blood boil further.

Just what did these bastards do to her to make her like that?

One of the Inspectors coldly said, "Welcome back."

Emyrson snarled, "What are you doing?"

"As you can see, the Senate has decided to take full command over this ruin, along with its dungeon."

Emyrson glared at him. Although he'd been itching to slaughter the Inspector, he didn't move an inch, for there were five of those monsters here.

He could probably kill one Inspector, but it was an entirely different story if there was more than one of them.

Having five of them here showed how interested the Senate was in this place.

The Inspector's gaze moved to the bulging backpacks of the explorers. Greed was evident in his eyes as he spoke.

"Please cooperate," he said. "And please understand. Everything we do is for the sake of the Republic."

What a load of crap.

Emyrson clenched his mouth so hard that some of his teeth cracked.

"We heard everything from Black Arm. Now, tell us. What trick did you use to bypass those arachnias? And what did you see inside? Do not leave anything out, Emyrson 'The Red Bear' Matias."

***

There was some time left before the Blackstone Knights returned to the capital.

During that time, Lark and Lady Alice had a lengthy conversation regarding the identities of the witches of Aravark.

According to her, the witches of Aravark were descendants of Leanne, the Deity of the Desert. Lark already expected this, as their facial features were uncannily similar.

Inside the Coalition Army's camp, Lark attentively listened to Lady Alice's story. Vulcan respectfully kept a distance. Silently, the Fire Dragon stood near the entrance.

"The Witches of Aravark was founded not by the Deity of the Desert, but by her great-granddaughter," said Lady Alice. "The first witch, Lilith."

Leanne must have been dead by then. She did not know of the group's existence.

"Everything started when Lilith discovered the journal left behind by the Deity of the Desert. Following the pathway written in the journal, she arrived at the buried city, eventually reaching the tomb of the Deity of the Desert and the shrine of Evander Alaester."

Lady Alice stared at Lark for a long time after she uttered the last two words of her sentence.

Lady Alice continued her story.

According to her, the first witch discovered that the Deity of the Desert made attempts to revive her master, the Arch Magus, Evander Alaester. After creating the White Stream Oasis, she dedicated the remaining years of her life to achieve her goal, even going as far as stopping her body from aging by slowly consuming her lifeforce.

Hearing this, Lark finally understood why Lady Alice knew necromancy. And he finally understood why Lady Alice knew of the method of temporarily stopping the progress of the mushroom's revenge, thus saving the life of Jacob Fraser's brother.

"In the end, the Deity of the Desert failed," said Lady Alice. "All she achieved at the end of her life was the perfected method of stopping the body's aging process, at the cost of one's life force. It is the same technique I am using today."

It was a method with a serious flaw.

Even if the body stopped aging, the person using the technique would eventually perish the moment they ran out of life force.

So, this was what Lady Alice said when she first introduced herself. The leader of the Witches of Aravark, despite her young appearance, was almost out of life force. She was near the end of her life.

"But please don't misunderstand," said Lady Alice. "Only the leader of the Witches of Aravark performs the rituals. As for the other witches, they are allowed to age and die naturally."

According to Lady Alice, there were currently twenty-one witches in Aravark. Most of them occupied key positions in Atarus, a small walled city with roughly thirty thousand people.

Each of these witches were powerful in their own might, and the citizens of Atarus revered them not only as rulers, but also as their protectors.

Peculiarly, for centuries, all of the witches were female.

"The blood of the Deity of the Desert is unique in its own way. Or should I say it's cursed? There has never been a case before when we gave birth to a son."

"But to call it cursed…."

"I understand what you mean, King Lark." Lady Alice wryly smiled. "But I'm not calling it cursed just because of that. You see…"

Without hesitation, she added:

"…The father of our children always dies shortly after we give birth to our children."

To prevent this curse from killing innocent people, the witches would select the seven strongest witches to mate with a single, willing man. The offsprings of these five witches would then become the next generation of witches.

Of course, the witches had already conducted research to find the root cause of this problem. And they learned that the blood flowing through their bodies were too strong that it siphoned the life force of their partners.

No matter how powerful the man was, he would die shortly after becoming the witches' partner.

"As I'm nearing the end of my life," said Lady Alice. "I, too, would need to choose a partner in order for me to give birth to a child. That's why—"

Lady Alice seemed to have more things to say, but her words were interrupted by the commotion outside.

The voice of a soldier was heard from the outside, "Your Majesty! The Blackstone Knights have returned to the camp!"

It seemed that Reginald Vont, Captain Symon, and the Blackstone Knights had returned to the capital.

Finally, it was time for the Coalition Army to head to the Republic of Everfrost.

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Hi guys it's ZEXOS, sorry for the delay, I've forgot about posting it. Also author stopped writing the novel for some time and no one knows till when. Maybe a month or two there would be no chapters, or maybe author will release sooner idk. But stay tuned for future updates. Love you all for your support. Have a nice time.